Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said Peter Obi weakened his chances of making a significant impact in the 2027 presidential election after leaving the African Democratic Congress.
Fayose made the statement during an interview on TVC News’ Politics Tonight, where he assessed the prospects of opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the opposition had a stronger chance of challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress when prominent politicians were united under the ADC.
“When they were all together in ADC, I would tell anybody that they will make an impact. The day Obi left ADC for NDC, that day Obi lost,” Fayose said.
Although he described Obi as “a fantastic Nigerian” who had demonstrated that the country could improve, Fayose argued that the division within the opposition would continue to affect its electoral prospects.
He said the opposition had also reached a stage where reversing its political decisions would be difficult, particularly because the Independent National Electoral Commission had already accredited the candidates.
“It’s too late now. INEC has accredited everybody,” Fayose said.
The former governor also predicted a strong performance for President Bola Tinubu in the South-West, saying the President could secure about four million votes in the region based on the voting pattern recorded during the 2023 presidential election.
Fayose further estimated that Tinubu could win about 65 per cent of the vote nationally.
On electoral malpractice, he criticised attempts to blame vote-buying solely on one political party, arguing that supporters of the APC, Peoples Democratic Party and Accord Party were all implicated during the recent Osun governorship election.
He described electoral malpractice as a systemic problem requiring collective action from politicians, institutions and voters..
